Martha's house doesn't offer anything of merit, much to Boo and Harry's dismay-the cliff is still scattered with a layer of debris, and the only possessions left intact are now in the trunk of Boo's car. Harry helps her haul the boxes into her apartment, where they spend upwards of an hour carefully combing through each item.

By the time her phone rings that afternoon, the better half of her living room floor is covered with Martha's leftover possessions: old photographs, random pieces of jewelry, assorted trinkets, a handknitted gray blanket with a jagged hole in one corner, and a few other odds and ends. Harry is still only halfway through his first box, as he keeps getting distracted by the baseball game on the television.

Boo has to refrain from yelling several curse words when she sees Frank's name flashing across her screen. Ever since Martha's funeral, she's all but completely abandoned her job at the hardware store.

"What is it?" Harry asks, upon hearing her dramatic groan. She glances over to see him poring through a stack of waterlogged photographs.

"Forgot I was supposed to go to work today," she laments. The phone continues to buzz in her hand but she doesn't make a move to answer. "Oh well. If I get fired then it's probably a blessing in disguise. That job is unbearable anyhow."

Harry chuckles to himself while flipping to the next picture in his hands. "Some of these pictures look like they're from the fifties or sixties."

"Probably are," Boo remarks, tossing her phone onto the couch and continuing her search. "Nana was a packrat, couldn't get rid of anything. Her attic was like a hoarder's dream come true."

"Really?" he says, raising an eyebrow. Boo nods and pulls out a small ring box; when she opens it, she sees nothing but a broken cross necklace.

Her attention is snagged when Harry holds up a picture for her to see. "Is this Martha?"

Boo smiles softly; Martha's familiar features are young, pristine, untouched yet by years of heartache. "Yeah, that's her. She was probably seventeen or eighteen in that photo."

Harry flips the picture around and studies it for a moment before a hint of a smile curves onto his lips. "She was very beautiful. I see where you get it now."

"Oh, come off it," Boo scoffs, though she feels a heat begin to rise in her cheeks. Her eyes drop and she turns her face from Harry's view; even looking away, she can feel his gaze tacked to her blushing skin.

"Who is this?" he asks, thankfully changing the subject. She peeks up to see him holding a different photo.

Her eyes widen as she takes the picture into her own hands. "I . . . I think that's my grandfather."

"What was his name?" Harry asks, apparently not noticing her confusion.

"Randall," Boo says quietly. "He died when I was young, before I could even remember him. Nana never talked about him either, so I don't know much about him beyond that."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he remarks, taking the photo back. He replaces it at the bottom of the stack as Boo shrugs.

"S'alright," she mutters indifferently. "I barely knew the man. Can't miss him too much."

"I suppose," he sighs. He flips through a couple more photos before he stops and pulls out one last one. "Hey, look at this."

The urgency in his voice is unexpected; Boo takes the picture he hands her, only to feel her own heart jump into her throat as she sees a picture of her grandfather standing next to someone. Their face is unfamiliar but the messy writing scrawled across the bottom of the photo says everything she needs to know:

"Oh my god," Boo murmurs in disbelief. "They were friends?"

Harry shuffles through the pile in his hands. "There are more photos of them together," he remarks. "Some look like they go back to their primary school days."

Boo scrambles forward to see what he's referencing; he hands her picture after picture, each displaying Nathaniel Waters standing astride her late grandfather. Some of the photos are too grainy or destroyed to see many details, but Nathaniel's face is unmistakable, even as a young man.

"Melita," Harry says gently, pulling her attention to him one last time. His face looks strained as he hands her one more photo.

They were all friends. Randall, Martha, and Nathaniel.

Boo is at a loss for words. She tears her gaze from the picture and looks over at Harry, searching his face for any shred of comfort.

"Boo, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have shown you that," he says hurriedly, reaching for the picture.

She shakes her head. "No, it's alright, I just wasn't expecting that."

Nathaniel and Martha's friendship explains so much, and yet so many more doors have been opened internally. No wonder Martha was so insistent on inviting him over for Sunday dinners, if she were intent on maintaining an old friendship.

But what about his obvious disdain for Boo? How could Martha not take that into account?

Her eyes drop to the messy "Primark H.S., 1967" scrawled across the bottom of the photo. That would've been the year Martha graduated high school.

Harry gingerly removes the picture from her hands before she can analyze it any further. Boo watches numbly as he tucks the photos back into the box before coming to his feet.

"Come on," he urges gently, holding his hand out to her. "Let's go for a walk, take your mind off things."

Boo knows a walk isn't likely to help, but she obliges anyhow. Harry flashes her an encouraging smile and leads her outside into the summer afternoon; the heat is stifling but Boo still has chills across her skin. She locks the front door before following Harry to his car.

"There's a little park downtown, if you'd like to go there," he says, opening the passenger door for her. She nods quietly and remains silent through the entire drive.

Downtown is in full swing. People traipse up and down the sidewalks, dipping in and out of the various local shops on the street or chatting to their friends. The park is occupied by several children and their families, running around the playground and chasing each other through the grassy field. Harry takes Boo's hand as they set out on the walking trail that wraps around the park, cuts through downtown, and loops back to the park through a shady wooded area.

"You don't have to hold my hand you know," Boo laughs breathily. "I can walk just fine unassisted."

"What if I want to?" he simpers. "You've told me how nice my butt is, I think I can hold your hand."

Boo cracks a crooked grin. "Fair enough."

They walk for a few minutes, nestled in the comfort of their own bubble while the world moves around them unnoticed. Boo listens in fascination as Harry tells her about his life in England-his childhood, his friends, his parent's divorce, his mother's remarriage. Boo is particularly interested in hearing about her.

She would never admit it, but part of her had always hoped Lori would wake up one day and come to her senses; that she would apologize for everything she'd put Boo through and would actually make the effort to be a real mother. Hearing the loving way Harry's mom treats him makes that longing even more prominent.

"Tell me more about her," Boo asks sweetly. "She sounds incredible."

He shrugs. "She's like any other mother, I suppose. She-"

He stops when he realizes what he's said. His hold on Boo's hand tightens as he grimaces down at her. "Sorry, Boo, I didn't even think about that."

"It's alright," she says dismissively. "Lori doesn't bother me as much anymore."

"You deserve a real mother," he tells her. "You deserve that kind of love."

"Harry, don't, you'll make me cry," Boo laughs, already feeling a pricking in her eyes.

He goes to say something else in reply but his words are drowned out by the sudden sound of a woman shouting behind them.

"Melissa!"

Harry's forehead wrinkles in confusion, and he even turns to look behind them. Boo turns crossly, preparing to yell back, when she comes face to face with Faye.

"Melissa!" Faye grins excitedly. "I'm so happy to see you out here!"

"Melita," Boo corrects her sharply. "My name is Melita."

Faye's face falls slightly but her vigorous smile remains untouched. "Right, sorry dear, been a bit flustered the past few days. I've got something for you, don't go anywhere."

It's then that Boo notices the giant stack of purple flyers nestled in the crook of Faye's arm. Faye presses one into Boo's hands, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement.

Boo can feel Harry's warmth radiating into her back as he leans over to look at the flyer in her hands. She glances up at him in curious confusion, but he merely shrugs.

"The city's community board thought it would be a good idea to have some kind of town function to boost morale, after such a dreadful beginning to summer," Faye explains giddily. "I made the flyers myself. Do you like them?"

The poster isn't terrible, but it also isn't exceptionally inviting. But Boo doesn't want to crush Faye's clear excitement, so she merely nods and forces a smile onto her face. "They're great, Faye, I'm sure Nana would've loved them too."

Faye's expression takes on a pitiful edge, and Boo suddenly regrets mentioning her grandmother. "Oh, sugar," Faye hums. Her voice is sickeningly sweet. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine," Boo snaps, maybe a little too harshly. Faye's eyes go wide in surprise. "I-don't worry about me," Boo finishes, reigning in the sharpness of her words.

"The service was beautiful, by the way," Faye says, and Boo is relieved to hear the sympathy is gone from her voice.

"Thank you," Boo replies, meaning it. "I appreciate you going."

Faye nods pensively. Her eyes flicker up to Harry, still standing patiently behind Boo, and her eager grin reignites. "Anyhow, we'd love to see you both at the social. Bring your dancing shoes!"

And with that, she's bouncing off to invite other people. Boo grimaces at the childish poster in her hands before rolling her eyes at Harry.

"I'm not going to some dumb dance," she scoffs. She goes to toss the flyer into the nearest trash can but stops when Harry snatches it from her hands. "Hey!"

"Come on, Boo, it may actually be fun," he says with a grin.

"You're not serious, are you?" Boo asks, raising an eyebrow. "This sounds like a fiasco waiting to happen."

Harry merely flashes her a cryptic smile before turning to continue their walk. "Don't be so jaded, love," he calls teasingly. "You may actually enjoy yourself."

Boo groans aloud before jogging to catch up with him. "Harry the hermit wants to go to a town dance? I'm definitely living in a parallel universe."

He glares at her. "I can occasionally want to leave my house. And besides, this may be a good opportunity for some field research."

A frown settles on her lips. "Field research?"

"You know, talking to some of the residents here," Harry says, his voice dropping to just above a whisper. "This gives you a chance to see what they know about the night of the hurricane, if anything at all."

"That's actually not a bad idea," Boo muses. "Maybe someone knows more than they think."

Harry smirks at her smugly and Boo feels her irritation resurface. "But I'm not wearing a dress."

He makes a noise of defeat while she sneaks another glance at the flyer in his hands. "Besides, isn't the solstice in June? I think they're a month early with the name."

Harry breaks into loud laughter, his footsteps faltering as the realization hits him too. "Oh God, I hadn't even noticed. Don't tell Faye."

special early update to celebrate dandelion hitting 5K reads! thank you so much to everyone who's decided to give this story a chance, it really means the world and i hope you're enjoying this so far. i made a special little edit of harry on my instagram (@/oceanlyfefanfic) so i highly suggest you go check that out ;)

also i hope you enjoy all the polaroid edits for this chapter! i did my best but i'm definitely not a photoshop whiz at ALL so don't judge me too much ahaha. anyhow, who's ready to see harry at a town dance i'm crying LOL i'm so hyped for the next chapter alreadyyy

have a great night and happy hump day x